1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a charging connector for an electric vehicle having a cable connected to a power supply connector, such that the cable can be surely prevented from being pulled out of the power supply connector.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An electric vehicle is charged by passing a current through a power receiving connector attached to a vehicle body, when the power receiving connector is coupled with a power supply connector which is, in turn, cable-connected to a charger. In this case, coupling and separation of the power supply connector from the power receiving connector can be repeated many times and a large current is passed through the cable. For this reason, if the cable comes off or is disconnected from the power supply connector during working or charging, an accident may result and lead to injury. Loosening of connection between a lead wire of the cable and a charging terminal may lead to wire-breaking or short-circuiting.
A structure for preventing loosening of the connection portion between such a lead wire and a terminal and for preventing the cable from being disconnected from a connector body is proposed in FIGS. 12(A) and (B) and 13(A) and (B) of J-UM-A-57-128782. In these figures, a denotes a multi-pole plug and b denotes a multi-pole connector to be coupled therewith. The multi-pole connector a includes: plug terminals connected to cords 71; a base 73, of thermoplastic hard resin, into which the plug terminals are inserted and secured; a plug intermediate body 75, connected to the base 73 by a screw 74; a thermosetting resin plug insulator 77, filled and sealed in the internal space from an opening 76 of the plug intermediate body 75, for serving to secure the members 71a for the connecting cords 71 and the plug terminals 72; and a thermoplastic body 78 having a cord protection portion 78a. A locking ring 79 is mounted on the base 73.
On the other hand, the multi-pole connector b includes: a flange receiving groove 80, into which a flange 73a of the base 73 is inserted; and the corresponding connector terminals 81. The multi-pole plug a and the multi-pole connector b are coupled with each other and locked to each other by the locking-ring 79.
In the multi-pole plug a shown in FIG. 12, the member 71a, for connecting the cords 71 and the plug terminals 72, are integrally molded by the thermosetting resin plug insulator 77. For this reason, there is no fear of the cords 71 either coming-off of or getting loosened from the connecting members 71a. Thus, the connecting member 71a is excellent at preventing the cords 71 from coming-off or loosening. However, it is difficult to apply the connecting member 71a to a charging connector of an electric vehicle, particularly a power supply connector, for the following reasons.
Since the power supply connector itself is considerably large, integral molding of its cable and members connected with the charging terminals by the thermosetting resin plug insulator 77 further increases the weight of the power supply connector. This is contradictory to demands for realization of a lighter weight power supply connector and makes it inconvenient to use the power supply connector.
Fixing the cords and the terminals by molding makes it impossible to rearrange or exchange the charging terminals and ground terminals. Where the terminals are abraded or damaged, the connector is obliged to be scrapped.
Further, in making the thermosetting resin plug insulator 77, it takes a long time to perform processing such as filling, sealing and hardening. This increases the production cost of the connector.